Permission for flats already built could be refused
Danks Badnell Architects LtdPlanning permission for a new block of flats could be refused, despite already being built and occupied by tenants.
Property developer Redsky Homes constructed 51 homes on the site of the former Willow Tree pub in Langley despite only getting permission for 41 in 2021.
It has now applied to Slough Borough Council for retrospective planning permission.
Council planning officers have recommended councillors vote to refuse.
The officers said the "scale, bulk and design of the building is detrimental" to occupants, neighbours and the area.
Permission for the 41-home development was granted by the government's planning inspectorate in August 2021.
The site's owner then appears to have sold the land to Redsky Homes in June 2023.
Two months later, Redsky Homes applied for planning permission for a six-storey block of 53 flats on the site, later amended to 47 flats the following May.
In the meantime, it began construction work the council said "didn't appear to reflect the original consents".
The authority said it warned the developer to stop building until its planning application had been decided.
"This advice was ignored and construction work continued," it said.
Redsky Homes withdrew its application for a six-storey development in November last year. In the same month, it applied for permission for the already built 51-home building.
A spokesperson for the company previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the developer believed the block of flats was "appropriate in the local context".
The spokesperson, from PR firm Thorncliffe Your Shout, declined to say why Redsky Homes did not wait until planning permission had been granted or why it ignored council warnings to stop.
They also declined to say why Redsky Homes then let the flats out to tenants.
The council's planning committee will decide whether the 51-flat development should be given approval at a meeting on Wednesday.
If it refuses, Redsky would have to either demolish the building or alter it to match the originally-approved plan.
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